Horsepasture River North Carolina Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Brown Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Size
Small to medium
Location
Southern North Carolina
Nearest Towns
Cashiers
Season
Year-round
Access:
Fair
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina
Weather
National Weather Service
Season:
Year-round
Winter:
It’s possible to catch trout during warm, nice winter day but most of the time, fishing would be tough.
Spring:
The fishing is best during the Spring.
Summer:
Summertime is a good time for fly fishing the Horsepasture River.
Fall:
Early Fall is an excellent time to fish this stream
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing The Horsepasture River North Carolina
The Horsepasture River is known for its rainbow trout. Why it is, I really don’t know, ecause it also has plenty of brown trout. My guess is that is has more brown trout than rainbows. This misconception probably has to do with the state record rainbow being caught in a private section of the stream. If so, the fact that a large rainbow was caught in the river is misleading insofar as to what’s typical or normal.
Horsepasture River is the shortest river in the National Wild and Scenic River system. Its length is just over four miles. It’s known for its waterfalls and hiking adventures, not fly fishing; however, it’s a very good stream to fish. Its five waterfalls are all within two miles of each other -Drift Falls, Second Falls (or Turtleback Falls), Rainbow Falls, Stairstep Falls and Windy Falls. In addition, it has numerous smaller cascades, rapids, and a huge mount
of boulders and rock outcroppings. Drift and Turtleback falls occur near the trail access oint on Bohaynee Road at Gorges State Park but the stream is not in Georges State Park – it’s in the Pisgah National Forest.
The popularity of the waterfalls is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Its trail system lets you access the Horsepasture River at several places where you can begin fishing. The disadvantage is the crowds of sightseers. If you fish during the Summer, the pools at
the base of all the falls will be full of swimmers as well as some of the other water in the areas near them. As mentioned above, the river is four miles long and the waterfalls only represent a small part of the river. There’s plenty of water to fish and there are plenty of
fish to catch.
The Horsepasture River is formed above Lake Sapphire which it flows through. Above and below Lake Sapphire the river flows through private property. The first public access is below the highway 281 bridge. Many think it flows into Gorges State Park but as mentioned above, it isn’t a part of the park. The park does serve as an access point to its system of trails that access the river.
The Horsepasture River isn’t exactly a small stream. It probably average over thirty feet in width. It would best be described as heavy pocket water. The best strategy for fly fishing the Horsepasture River is to fish it during the cooler parts of the year when people are not
swimming and the park visitor are low in numbers. We failed to do this and our first short trip turned out to involve more looking than fishing. The second time we fished this stream produced five brown trout and no rainbows.